I'm back!

Hey long time no bloggy! What a whirlwind the last week or so has been. Let me try and catch you up...cuz I know you just can't live without these thrilling updates!

The week of 9/11, the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall came to our town so I took the family to check it out. My dad, as well as G's dad, were both stationed in Germany during Vietnam: my dad in the Army and G's dad in the Air Force.

Okay, as a side note, I'd like to mention that I think it is so COOL that G's sister and I were both born in the same German town and that G was in that same little town in Germany when I was born...just sayin' it must've been meant to be.

While we were there, I called my dad and asked if there was anyone I could look up for him, take a picture of their name, do a pencil rubbing, whatever else. His platoon sergent did a 2nd tour in Vietnam and during that tour he had a heart attack and died at age 39 (how sad! and how young!). SFC La Flame was the guy who arranged my first meeting with my dad. My dad was out in the field when I was born and La Flame sent a jeep to the field to bring my dad to the hospital.

When G's mom took her grandson (our nephew), I asked if I could tag along to take some more pictures at night with the full moon (still need lots of practice with nighttime shots).

I was glad to go with them, especially with G's mom being such a huge history buff.
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Then that weekend, we had a flippin' HURRICANE...in Ohio (thanks Ike)! Winds up to 78 mph! We've had high winds in Ohio before (think tornadoes), but to have it be that windy and for so long (noon until 9pm??)...it was just crazy. I even happened to be looking out the window when part of our biggest tree split. Luckily, we didn't lose power like our parents and most folks did (some STILL don't have power over a week later).

Look at what the wind was doing to our little tree. It was so strong it broke the straps holding the tree in place.

Who knows if our now very crooked tree will survive. During the wind gusts, I swear I could see the actual mulch/roots of the tree moving. I thought for sure that it would uproot.
And now we have some logs for our neighbor's firepit and gma's fireplace.

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This past weekend G's mom and I took part in our church's 1st annual women's conference called G.R.A.C.E. (Girlfriends Redeemed and Celebrating Eternity). That was a great day!

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Oh, and I want to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sis-in-law Tina today! I hope you are enjoying your day!!